Playing Hooky
by StarrAngelofNarnia
Summary: Bella is pretending to be sick and Carlisle wants to know why. All Human, Bella is a child.


_AN: I do not own Twilight or the characters, just this plot bunny. I should also mention, even though I wrote this plot bunny, I don't think this is an appropriate way for Carlisle to handle this issue :P This is from Carlisle's Point of View. _

It was now pushing seven forty five. Emmett had just gotten on the bus to go to Forks Middle School. One kid down, five to go. Rosalie and Jasper were both completely ready, sitting on the couch with their backpacks on. Edward was gathering up his homework and Alice was looking for a missing shoe because the pair of shoes at the door 'didn't match her outfit.' Bella was still in bed.

Esme walked out of the kitchen, car keys, purse and designs in hand. It was one of those rare occasions where I had the day off, but Esme on the other hand still had to go into work, at least for part of the day. "You need to leave in five minutes and Bella still hasn't gotten up yet," I whispered.

"I know," she whispered back, frazzled. "I went in Bella's room three times but she still won't get up. And why can't Alice just wear the shoes by the door? She knows where those are."

"Because those shoes don't match her outfit," I said, mimicking Alice.

"She's six and wearing a school uniform for crying out loud. She doesn't need to worry about her outfit matching."

"Well then, if Alice finds it necessary to 'match' as she puts it, then she's going to have to get all her clothes ready the night before. She can't make her sisters and brothers late. Especially Rose and Jasper. It's their last year of elementary school. For now you take the four of them. I'll get Bella up and get her to school."

She sighed. "Alright. I love you, Carlisle. See you at lunch." I kissed her lightly on the lips and as she headed out the door with the kids, I made my way up the stairs.

I knocked on the door out of habit from working in the hospital. I walked in and found Bella lying in bed the same place she had been all morning. "Bella," I said softly. She had been fully covered with the blankets until she heard her name. She pulled the blankets down so I could see her face. "Bella, love, you're going to be late for school."

She shook her head and pulled the blankets back over her. "I don't wanna go to school. I don't feel good," she mumbled.

I sat down on the bed and threw the covers off of Bella. She didn't look sick at all. I put my hand on her forehead. She was cool as a cucumber. "Bella you don't have a fever, sweetheart. I think you need to go to school."

"But I really don't feel good daddy," she whined. She was lying to me. I could see it in her eyes.

"Bella," I said, warning in my voice. She refused to change her story. I refused to let her get away with lying. I had a spur of the moment idea that I didn't exactly like but I knew would get her to tell me the truth. "Alright," I sighed. "I am going to go get you some medicine. I'll be right back."

As I left, I closed the door behind me. I walked down the hall to my office. My medical bag was sitting on my desk where I had left it last night. I found what I was looking for quickly: a syringe. I did not intend on giving Bella a shot, just scaring her into thinking I was. I figured if she thought she was getting a shot she didn't need, she would admit she wasn't sick. For the purpose of making it look more realistic, I filled the syringe with saline. I grabbed a band-aid, a cotton ball, and an alcohol swab and made my way back to Bella's room.

I opened the door making sure the supplies I had with me were hidden from sight. I walked over to her bed and sat down, still hiding the needle. "So you're absolutely sure you're sick Bella?" I asked, giving her one last chance to tell the truth.

"Uh huh," she said nodding. I sighed. I really didn't want to do this.

"Alright."

I stood up and laid the supplies on the table so that she could see for the first time what I had in mind. Or at least what she _thought _I had in mind. Her eyes grew wide at the sight of the syringe lying on her bedside table. "I'm not that sick Daddy," she said, the fear evident on her face.

"Don't be silly Bella," I said opening the package of the alcohol swab. "I'm a doctor. I know better than you do what you need to get better." As I wiped her shoulder, I kept a poker face so she could not see how I was really feeling.

"But…" she said. I paused with the syringe in my hand. "But what Bella?"

"I don't feel that bad. I just feel too bad to go to school."

"I see. Well if you're sick, you need a shot so you'll get better," I said resuming the charade and pulling the cap off the needle.

"Please?" she whispered. Without saying a word, I gently grabbed her arm and lowered the needle to her skin just enough so she could feel it there. "Carlisle don't! I'mnotsickIwasjustlyingcauseididntwanttogotoschool!" she said, the words pouring out of her mouth as the tears began pouring from her eyes. That was exactly the confession I had been waiting for. I capped the needle and put everything in the bedside table drawer for now, so that they would be hidden from sight.

"You believe me?!" she asked slightly awe-struck, her tears lessening.

"I know you're not sick. I knew you weren't sick from the beginning."

"So why…"

"I knew you were lying to me Bella. I wanted you to admit that you were and tell the truth." I sat down on the bed and pulled her into my lap. "Bella, sweetheart, understand that I absolutely did not want to scare you but I knew that would get the message across," I said softly, gently, while I rubbed her back to calm her down. "Lying is not acceptable, Bella," I said sternly.

She sniffled. "I'm sorry," she said, burying her face in my chest.

"I forgive you. Now, can you tell me why you wanted to skip school? It's Friday and you love school, Bella."

"Because I don't get Fun Friday." Losing Fun Friday was the elementary school equivalent of detention. The only way to lose Fun Friday was if you got in trouble.

"Why did you lose Fun Friday, Bella?"

"Because I got in trouble." I had a feeling I was going to have to coax it out of her.

"How did you get in trouble?"

"I pulled a color." Yep. I was going to have to coax it out of her. Out of all my children, Bella got in trouble the least so admitting how she'd gotten in trouble was probably hard for her.

"Yes Bella love. I figured that much. But why did you pull a color? I promise you won't be in more trouble if you tell me."

Without a word, she crawled out of my arms and to the end of the bed, pulling her Harry Potter book bag up next to her. She rummaged around in her bag and pulled out a paper. She crawled back in my lap and then handed the paper to me.

"To the parents of Isabella Swan," I said reading the note aloud. "I regret to inform you that your daughter will not be participating in Fun Friday this week. On Wednesday, Bella pulled a color for talking. She was given several warnings but she continued to talk. This is the first Fun Friday Bella has lost so I wanted to inform you of why she will not be participating," I didn't bother reading the signature.

If Alice would have been the one in trouble for talking, I would not have been surprised at all. Since she started preschool, she had gotten in trouble for talking quite a few times. But Bella?

"Bella, why were you talking? This really surprises me."

"I don't know." She had started crying again while I was reading the note and there was now a steady stream of tears running down her cheeks. "We were in line coming back to class from lunch and me and Jessica both got in trouble for talking. I'm sorry daddy."

I could easily see how Jessica would have gotten Bella in trouble. She's worse than Alice when it comes to excessive talking. "I forgive you Bella."

"So I don't have to go to school?" she asked hopefully.

"Yes Bella. You still have to go to school," I said standing up from the bed and pulling her uniform out of the closet.

"But…"

"Bella," I said kneeling down in front of her. "You made a bad choice and you have to face the consequences for it. You chose to talk so your consequence is missing Fun Friday. But next time when you're tempted to talk when you shouldn't be, think about today before you do. Okay?" She nodded and wrapped her arms around my neck. "I love you Bella."

"I love you too, Daddy."

"Alright Bella, let's get ready for school."


End file.
